Dragnet Game On? Lowell On?: Jays at Sox

As if the Red Sox needed their current five-game losing streak to stretch on any longer, here comes your evening weather bulletin from trusty Globe baseball meteorologist Nick Cafardo:

It's about 5:30 p.m. and the tarp is on the field. There's light rain falling as some of the Blue Jays are out throwing in left field.

Great. So now Boston can hold on to lingering disappointment from losing five straight, all five of which easily could have been won, while waiting and wondering if they'll even get to play tonight. If they DO get in a game back at the Fens, they'll trot out a more traditional lineup, with the return of Mike Lowell to the three-bag and his study No. 6 spot in the order, much to the chagrin of reliever Bryan Corey, who you can see on that bus out of town after his latest demotion. Oh, and the continued Jacoby Ellsbury absence comes from a nagging groin injury, for those who are keeping track (take note in Chicago Kenny Williams).


And who does Boston have to try and play stopper on the mound? Why, that's Jon Lester out there. And he's facing off against perennial Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay. Joyous, a pitcher who's struggled to keep down his pitch count AND his pitches themselves, butting heads with a guy who has a tendency to mow down Boston batters on cruise control. Not necessarily the matchup you'd draw up to break out of a colossal slump with, is it?

It's not that the Lester doesn't have the stuff to compete with the likes of Halladay and the Jays. Quite to the contrary, as he proved in his second official outing of the year against Oakland, a game which, for all practical purposes, should have served as his first start of the season (Japanese games during the preseason calendar really shouldn't count on toward official stats, should they?). Instead of carrying over the control he flexed in that win - keeping most of his pitches in the zone and, most importantly, the ones that weren't way down - he's allowed fastballs to rise into the zone where they've had the troubling tendency to get knocked way the hell out of the park. Equally devastating are the walks he's allowed, putting runners aboard before those big flies take flight.

The Blue Jays lineup, even without Frank Thomas, certainly has batters who can continue that trend. Scott Rolen is aboard and swinging, Vernon Wells always kills the Sox and Alex Rios is an absolute headache when he's clued in (you've got about 50-50 odds on that happening any given day). And with the drizzle dimming optimism, and the Jays lineup lingering when the game actually does get rolling, there's really only one shining point to provide distinct optimism entering tonight's game: No matter what happens, at least Toronto won't be wearing those early 90s baby blue throwbacks. As sweet as those are, they bring back night terrors for WMYM.

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